AOpen AX59PRO User manual

AX59PRO
User's Guide
Printed in Taiwan
PART NO.:49.87801.311
DOC. NO.:AX59P-1-E9903G

AX59PRO
Mainboard
User's Guide
Document Number : AX59P-1-E9809F
Model and Revision : For AX59PRO revision 1.xx
Manual Revision : English, revision F
Release Date : Sep 21, 1998
More help for latest information:
Taiwan http://www.aopen.com.tw
USA http://www.aopen-usa.com
http://www.aopenusa.com
http://www.aopenamerica.com
Europe http://www.aopen.nl

ii
Copyright
Copyright ©1998 by this company. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval
system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, manual or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of this company.

iii
Disclaimer
This company makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or
implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims any
warranties, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Any software
described in this manual is sold or licensed "as is". Should the programs prove
defective following their purchase, the buyer (and not this company, its
distributor, or its dealer) assumes the entire cost of all necessary servicing,
repair, and any incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect
in the software. Further, this company reserves the right to revise this
publication and to make changes from time to time in the contents hereof
without obligation to notify any person of such revision or changes.
Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
XT/AT is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
AMI is a registered trademark of American Megatrends Inc.
AWARD is a registered trademark of Award Software Inc.
Other brand and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.

iv
FCC Class B Radio Frequency
Declaration of Conformity
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class
B Subassembly -CPU Board device, pursuant to Part 15 of FCC Rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1. This device may not
cause harmful interference, and 2. This device must accept any interference
received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
Equipment Classification : FCC Class B Subassembly - CPU Board
Type of Product : Intel Pentium PCI/ISA/AGP ATX Motherboard
Chipset(s) : VIA MVP3
AX59PRO
Test To Comply
With FCC Standards
FOR HOME OR OFFICE USE
The limits of FCC Part 15 Class B are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This
equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not
installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful
interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that
interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does
cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be
determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try
to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
1. Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
2. Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
3. Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to
which the receiver is connected.
4. Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for help.

v
Notice 1:
The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible
for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.
Notice 2:
Shielded interface cables, if any, must be used in order to comply with emission
limits.

vi
Organization
Chapter 1, Overview, covers the introduction and specifications of the system
board and special features.
Chapter 2, Hardware Installation, describes hardware jumpers, connectors and
memory configuration. There are user friendly drawings to locate jumper and
connector.
Chapter 3, AWARD BIOS, explains the system BIOS and tells how to configure
the system by setting the BIOS parameters.
Appendix A, Frequently Asked Question, collects most frequently asked
question of this product.
Appendix B, Troubleshooting Guide, includes first aid information you need if
you meet trouble, the WWW address and worldwide service telephone/fax are
also included.
Appendix C, Jumper Table Summary, gives you a tabular summary of the
jumper settings discussed in Chapter 2.

vii
Conventions
The following conventions are used in this manual:
Text entered by user,
default settings,
recommended selections
Represent text input by the user, default
settings and recommended selections
<Enter>, <Tab>,<Ctl>, <Alt>,
<Ins>, <Del>, etc
Represent the actual keys that you
have to press on the keyboard.
Note:
Gives bits and pieces of additional
information related to the current topic.
Warning:
Alerts you to any damage that might
result from doing or not doing specific
actions.
Caution:
Suggests precautionary measures to
avoid potential hardware or software
problems.
Important:
Reminds you to take specific action
relevant to the accomplishment of the
procedure at hand.
Tip:
Tells how to accomplish a procedure
with minimum steps through little
shortcuts.

viii
Contents
Chapter 1 Overview
1.1 Specifications..................................................................3
1.2 Overclocking ...................................................................5
1.3 Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up ......................................8
1.4 System Voltage Monitoring..........................................10
1.5 Fan Monitoring ..............................................................10
1.6 CPU Thermal Protection ..............................................11
chapter 2 Hardware Installation
2.1 Jumper and Connector Locations ................................2
2.2 Jumpers ...........................................................................4
2.2.1 Setting the CPU Voltage...........................................5
2.2.2 Selecting the CPU Frequency ..................................8
2.2.3 DRAM Clock ...........................................................12
2.2.4 Clearing the CMOS.................................................13
2.3 Connectors ....................................................................14
2.3.1 Power Cable ...........................................................14
2.3.2 ATX Soft-Power Switch Connector.........................14
2.3.3 Fan………………………………………………………15
2.3.4 PS/2 Mouse ............................................................15
2.3.5 Keyboard.................................................................16
2.3.6 Serial Devices (COM1/COM2)................................16
2.3.7 Printer .....................................................................17
2.3.8 USB Device.............................................................17
2.3.9 Floppy Drive............................................................17
2.3.10 IDE Hard Disk and CD ROM ................................18
2.3.11 Hard Disk LED ......................................................19
2.3.12 Panel Connector ...................................................20
2.3.13 IrDA Connector .....................................................21
2.3.14 Wake-up Connector..............................................22

ix
2.3.15 LAN Wake-up Connector......................................22
2.4 Configuring the System Memory.................................23
2.5 Windows 98 Installation ...............................................29
chapter 3 Award BIOS
3.1 Entering the Award BIOS Setup Menu .........................2
3.2 Standard CMOS Setup....................................................3
3.3 BIOS Features Setup ......................................................6
3.4 Chipset Features Setup................................................11
3.5 Power Management Setup ...........................................15
3.6 PNP/PCI Configuration Setup......................................20
3.7 Load Setup Defaults .....................................................23
3.8 Load Turbo Defaults .....................................................23
3.9 Integrated Peripherals ..................................................24
3.10 Password Setting........................................................29
3.11 IDE HDD Auto Detection ............................................29
3.12 Save & Exit Setup .......................................................29
3.13 Exit without Saving.....................................................30
3.14 NCR SCSI BIOS and Drivers ......................................30
3.15 BIOS Flash Utility........................................................30
Appendix A Frequently Asked Question
Appendix B Troubleshooting
Appendix C Jumper Table Summary

1-1
Chapter 1
Overview
AX59 Pro is a high-performance Pentium®-based system board that utilizes
VIA MVP3 AGPset on ATX PCI/ISA platform. This motherboard supports new
architectures such as high speed AGP, SDRAM, Ultra DMA/33, Bus master
IDE and USB port. It has 512KB or 1MB (optional) pipelined-burst second-
level cache onboard and support two single in-line memory module (SIMM)
plus three Dual in-line memory module (DIMM) that allows to mix EDO and
SDRAM memory and expansion up to a maximum of 1GB.
Not only above features, AX59 Pro implements most advanced technology as
following.
Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up In conjunction with ATX soft power On/Off, it
is possible to have system totally power off and wakeup to automatically
answer a phone call such as answering machine or to send/receive fax. The
most important break through is not only external box modem but also internal
modem card can be used to support Modem Wake Up. The AX59 Pro and
MP56 internal modem card implement special circuit (patent applied) to make
sure the modem card work properly without any power.
LAN Wake Up This feature is very similar as Modem Wake Up, but it is through
local area network. To use LAN Wake Up function, you must have a network
card that supports this feature and also need to install a network management
software.
RTC Wake Up Timer The Wake Up Timer is more like an alarm, which wakes
up and power on your system at a pre-defined time for specific application. It
can be set to wake up everyday or on specific date within a month. The
date/time accurate is second.
High Efficient Synchronous Switching Regulator Most of the current
switching designs are Asynchronous mode, which from the technical point of
view, still consumes very high power as well as heat. AX59 Pro implements
high efficient synchronous switching design that the temperature of MOS FET
is far less than Schottky diode of Asynchronous design.

Overview
1-2
CPU Thermal Protection AX59 Pro has a special thermal detection circuit to
have warning through application software when the temperature is higher than
a predefined value.
CPU core current protection AX59 Pro implements CPU core voltage 15A
over-current protection to prevent any accident short circuit and prevent system
damage.
CPU and Housing Fan Monitoring AX59 Pro has one more "fan monitoring"
function to prevent system overheat. There are two fan connectors, one is for
CPU and the other can be a extra housing fan. The system will report and
alarm fan malfunction though utility software such as Hardware Monitor utility
(named AOhw100, where 100 means version number).
System Voltage Monitoring Further more, AX59 Pro implements a voltage
monitoring system, As you turn on your system, this smart design will continue
to monitor your system working voltage. If any of the system voltage is over the
component's standard. There will be alarm though software such as Hardware
Monitor utility for a warning to user.
Full-range CPU core voltage This motherboard supports the CPU core
voltage from 1.3V to 3.5V, that can be applied to various CPU type in future.
Resetable Fuse AX59 Pro implements resetable fuses to prevent any
accidental short circuit caused by keyboard or USB devices hot plug.
FCC DoC certificate AX59 Pro has passed FCC DoC test. The radiation is
very low, you can use any kind of housing.
Powerful utility software supported AOpen Bonus Pack companion CDROM
contains many useful utilities, such as Norton Anti-virus, AOchip, Hardware
Monitor utility, and BIOS flash utility.

Overview
1-3
1.1 Specifications
Form Factor ATX
Board Size 305 mm x 202 mm
CPU Intel Pentium Processor P54C, PP/MT (P55C), AMD
K5/K6/K6-2, Cyrix 6x86/M2 and IDT WinChip C6
family.
System Memory 72-pin SIMM x2, and SDRAM 168-pin x3,
maximum 1GB.
Second-level Cache 512KB or 1MB (optional) pipeline-burst cache
onboard
Chipset VIA MVP3 AGPset
Expansion Slots ISA x2, PCI x4 and AGP x1
Serial Port Two serial ports UART 16C550 compatible, and the
3rd UART for IR function.
Parallel Port One parallel port supports standard parallel port
(SPP), enhanced parallel port (EPP) or extended
capabilities port (ECP).
Floppy Interface Floppy interface supports 3.5 inches drives with
720KB, 1.44MB or 2.88MB format or 5.25 inches
drives with 360KB, 1.2MB format.
IDE Interface Dual-channel IDE interface support maximum 4 IDE
hard disks or CDROM, mode 4 , bus master hard disk
drives and Ultra DMA/33 mode hard drives are also
supported.
USB Interface Two USB ports supported by USB bracket, the BIOS
also supports USB driver to simulate legacy
keyboard.
PS/2 Mouse Mini-Din PS/2 mouse connector onboard.
Keyboard Mini-Din PS/2 keyboard connector onboard.
RTC and Battery RTC build in MVP3 chipset, Lithium (CR-2032)
battery.
BIOS AWARD Plug-and-Play, 2M bit Flash ROM BIOS.

Overview
1-4
Zero Voltage Modem
Wake Up
Special circuit (patent applied) to support modem
wake up by external box modem or internal AOpen
F56/MP56 modem card.
LAN Wake Up By using a network card that supports this feature
and a network management software, you can wake
up a system through a local area network.
RTC Wake Up Timer Program the date/time to wake up your system.
Synchronous
Switching Regulator
High efficient synchronous switching regulator for
future CPU.
Over-current
Protection
CPU core voltage 15A over-current protection to
prevent any accident short circuit.
CPU Thermal
Protection
Warning when CPU temperature is higher than a
predefined value.
Fan Monitoring Three fan connectors, warning when CPU or housing
fan is malfunction.
System Voltage
Monitoring
Warning when system voltage (5V,12V,3.3V,2.8V)
are abnormal.

Overview
1-5
1.2 Overclocking
As a leading manufacturer in motherboard industry, AOpen always listens to
what customers want and develop products to fit different user's requirements.
Reliability, compatibility, leading technology and friendly features are our basic
goals when designing motherboards. Other than above mentioned design
criteria, there are power users who are always seeking to push the limitation of
the system performance by overclocking which we call them "Overclocker".
This section is dedicated to Overclockers.
This high performance AX59 Pro motherboard is designed for maximum
100MHz CPU bus clock. But it comes with clock generator of 112MHz and
124MHz when we design it to accommodate future CPU bus clock. Our lab test
results shown that 112MHz is achievable when proper setting and quality
components were presented, we feel quite comfortable overclocking to 112MHz.
Not only that, AX59 Pro has 32 Vcore (CPU core voltage) settings and up to
5.5x CPU ratio, that supports almost all of Socket 7 CPUs in the future and
provides flexibility for overclockers. As for 124MHz, we do not recommend at
this time. For your reference, the following configurations are what we feel
comfortable at 112 MHz bus clock. But not guaranty.☺
Warning: The design of this product follows CPU and chipset
vendor's design guideline. Any attempts to push beyond product
specification are not recommended and you are taking your own risk
to damage your system or important data. Before doing overclocking,
you must make sure your components are able to tolerate such
abnormal setting, especially CPU, DRAMs, hard disks, and AGP VGA
cards.
Warning: Note that overclocking may also cause thermal problem.
Please make sure that the cooling fan and the heatsink were
adequate to dissipate excessive heat that's generated by
overclocking the CPU.
VGA and HDD are key components for overclocking, for your reference, the
following list are what have been successful overclocked in our lab. Please note
that AOpen can not guaranty they can be successful overclocked again.

Overview
1-6
VGA Card
VGA model/ Vendor Chipset model Driver
Asus S3 –Virge/dx(86c375) Asus
VENUS T-775 S3 Trio 64V2(86C775) Venus
VENUS 67TV Trident 9685 Venus
GALAXIE Trident 9685 (PS-68) Venus
ATI MACH 64 210888GX00 Win95 default
MATROX MY220P/4+ MGA
MATROX MGA-MIL/4+ MGA
MATROX MIL2P/4+ MGA
Hard Disk:
Vender Model Size
Maxtor 90680D4 6.8G
Maxtor 90845D5 8.4G
Maxtor 72004AP 2.0G
Maxtor 82560A4 2.5G
Seagate ST36530A 6.5G
Seagate ST31277A 1.2G
Quantum FireballST4320AT 4.3G
Quantum T-Rex Bigfoot TX6.0AT 6.0G
Quantum T-Rex Bigfoot TX8.0AT 8.0G
Quantum T-Rex Bigfoot TX12.0AT 12.0G
IBM DHEA-34330 4.3G
IBM DTTA-351010 10.1G
IBM DTTA-350840 8.4G
IBM DTTA-350640 6.4G
IBM DAQA-32160 2.1G

Overview
1-7
AX59 Pro Overclocking Settings
The following table lists the overclocking settings in AOpen’s lab for your
reference.
CPU Intel MMX-233MHz
DRAM SEC KOREA 801
KM48S2020CT-GH 32MB
HDD IBM DHEA-34330
VGA ATI 3D RAGE PRO AGP 2X
OS Windows 95 OSR2
BIOS R2.00d
Load BIOS Setup Default for
112MHz * 2.5 = 280MHz (O.K.)
112MHz * 2 = 224MHz (O.K.)
Load BIOS Turbo Default for
100MHz * 2.5 = 250MHz (O.K.)

Overview
1-8
1.3 Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up
The Modem Wake Up discussed here is to wakeup from true power off
(identified by fan of power supply is off), This motherboard still supports
traditional green PC suspend mode but it is not discussed here.
With the help ATX soft power On/Off, it is possible to have system totally power
off (The traditional suspend mode of power management function does not
really turn off the system power supply), and wakeup to automatically answer a
phone call such as answering machine or to send/receive fax. You may identify
the true power off by checking fan of your power supply. Both external box
modem and internal modem card can be used to support Modem Wake Up, but
if you use external modem, you have to keep the box modem always power-on.
AOpen AX59 Pro and internal modem card implement special circuit (patent
applied) and make sure the modem card works properly without any power. We
recommend you choose AOpen modem card (MP56) for Modem Wake Up
applications.
Internal Modem Card Wake U
p
(
such as MP56
)
External Box Modem
External Modem Wake U
p
COM
p
ort
TEL Line
TEL Line

Overview
1-9
For Internal Modem Card (AOpen MP56):
1. Go into BIOS setup , Power Management Modem Wake Up, select
Enable.
2. Setup your application, put into Windows 95.
3. Turn system power off by soft power switch.
4. Connect 4-pin Modem Ring-On cable from MP56 RING connector to AX59
Pro connector WKUP.
5. Connect telephone line to MP56. You are now ready to use Modem Ring-
On.
For External Box Modem:
1. Go into BIOS setup , Power Management Modem Wake Up, select
Enable.
2. Setup your application, put into Windows 95 Start Up.
3. Turn system power off by soft power switch.
4. Connect RS232 cable of external box Modem to COM1 or COM2.
5. Connect telephone line to external box Modem. Turn on Modem power (you
must keep Modem power always on). You are now ready to use Modem
Ring
Tip: External modem wake up signal is detected through
COM1 or COM2. Internal modem card wake up signal is
detected through cable from connector RING (on modem
card) to WKUP (on mainboard).
Note: If you use external modem, the power of external
modem must be kept on to receive signal from telephone
line. Internal modem card has no such limitation.

Overview
1-10
1.4 System Voltage Monitoring
This motherboard implements a voltage monitoring system. As you turn on your
system, this smart design will continue to monitor your system working voltage.
If any of the system voltage is over the component's standard. There will be
alarm through application software such as Hardware Monitor utility for a
warning to user. System voltage monitoring function monitors CPU core voltage.
It is automatically implemented by BIOS and Hardware Monitor utility (the file
name is like aohw100.exe, where 100 means the version number, no hardware
installation is needed.
1.5 Fan Monitoring
There are three fan connectors, two is for CPU, the other can be a housing fan.
The fan monitoring function is implemented by connecting fan to 3-pin fan
connector CPUFAN2 and installing Hardware Monitor utility.
Note: You need 3-pin fan that supports SENSE
signal for fan monitoring function to work properly.